Anonymous Wall

A full-stack anonymous message wall application where users can share their thoughts, questions, rants, or anything on their mind without registration or personal information.

Features

Frontend

• Landing Page: Welcoming interface with clear CTAs
• Post Submission: Anonymous post creation with optional tags
• Wall/Feed: Display all posts in reverse chronological order
• Search & Filter: Search posts by keywords and filter by tags
• Reactions: Anonymous reactions (like, love, laugh, wow, sad, angry)
• Admin Panel: Login-protected moderation interface
• Dark/Light Mode: Theme toggle for better UX
• Responsive Design: Works on all devices

Backend

• RESTful API: Express.js backend with MongoDB
• Security: Rate limiting, input sanitization, XSS protection
• Authentication: JWT-based admin authentication
• Analytics: Post statistics and tag popularity
• Moderation: Admin can delete inappropriate posts

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, React Router, Vite, Axios
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB, Mongoose
• Security: Helmet, express-rate-limit, express-validator, express-mongo-sanitize
• Authentication: JWT (jsonwebtoken), bcryptjs

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas)
• npm or yarn

Installation

1. Clone the repository

cd "lol for now"

2. Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

Create a .env file in the backend directory:

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/anonymous-wall
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key-change-this-in-production
NODE_ENV=development

3. Frontend Setup

cd ../frontend
npm install

Create a .env file in the frontend directory (optional):

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

4. Create Admin User

Run the setup script to create an admin user:

cd ../backend
node scripts/createAdmin.js

Or manually create an admin using MongoDB:

// In MongoDB shell or Compass
use anonymous-wall
db.admins.insertOne({
  username: "admin",
  password: "$2a$10$..." // hashed password
})

To hash a password, you can use the script in backend/scripts/createAdmin.js.

Running the Application

Start MongoDB

Make sure MongoDB is running on your system:

# On Linux/Mac
sudo systemctl start mongod
# or
mongod

# On Windows
net start MongoDB

Start Backend Server

cd backend
npm start
# or for development with auto-reload
npm run dev

The backend will run on http://localhost:5000

Start Frontend Development Server

cd frontend
npm run dev

The frontend will run on http://localhost:3000

API Endpoints

Posts

• POST /api/posts - Create a new post
• GET /api/posts - Get all posts (with pagination, filtering, search)
• GET /api/posts/:id - Get a single post
• DELETE /api/posts/:id - Delete a post (admin only)

Tags

• GET /api/tags - Get all tags with counts

Reactions

• POST /api/react - Add a reaction to a post

Admin

• POST /api/admin/login - Admin login
• GET /api/admin/verify - Verify admin token
• GET /api/admin/analytics - Get analytics (admin only)

Project Structure

.
├── backend/
│   ├── models/          # Mongoose models
│   ├── routes/          # API routes
│   ├── middleware/      # Auth, rate limiting
│   ├── scripts/         # Utility scripts
│   └── server.js        # Entry point
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/  # React components
│   │   ├── context/     # React context
│   │   ├── services/    # API services
│   │   └── App.jsx      # Main app component
│   └── vite.config.js   # Vite configuration
└── README.md

Security Features

• Rate Limiting: Prevents spam and abuse
• Input Sanitization: XSS protection via HTML escaping
• MongoDB Injection Protection: express-mongo-sanitize
• Helmet: Security headers
• JWT Authentication: Secure admin access
• Password Hashing: bcrypt for admin passwords

Environment Variables

Backend (.env)

• PORT: Server port (default: 5000)
• MONGODB_URI: MongoDB connection string
• JWT_SECRET: Secret key for JWT tokens
• NODE_ENV: Environment (development/production)

Frontend (.env)

• VITE_API_URL: Backend API URL (default: http://localhost:5000/api)

Production Deployment

1. Set NODE_ENV=production in backend .env
2. Use a strong JWT_SECRET
3. Update MONGODB_URI to production database
4. Build frontend: cd frontend && npm run build
5. Serve frontend build with a web server (nginx, Apache, etc.)
6. Use PM2 or similar for backend process management

License

ISC

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!